


Qinter Discovery

by BurntAshes



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-06-23 23:59:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15617904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntAshes/pseuds/BurntAshes
Summary: Winter had fully come to terms with his inner sadness, his inner blame and odd scale of emotional on-and-offs.Until a month ago, when he realized that he was attracted to the male specimen of dragons. Along with females.And, to simplify, he somehow wound up realizing that Moon was NOT for him, but his affections had sneakily angled themselves at Qibli.Now when visiting his old home in he Kingdom of Ice, Qibli himself arrives - how he wasn't dead from the cold, and somehow tricking the Great Ice Cliff was beyond him - and forces Winter to go to Jade Mountain.(Going to be redone!)





	1. Winter

The glittery IceWing proudly sauntered through the snow-and-ice halls of the Ice Palace. Scuttling servants and passing high-ranked dragons alike gave him odd looks as Winter brushed by, him being an outcast prince and stuff, but that didn't matter to him.

He was still of royal blood, after all, so no one would dare to oppose him--it would, after all, lower their rank severely--, and besides, he was here as a guest; the cold-blooded dragon and his cousin, Queen Snowfall, daughter of the deceased mighty Ex-Queen Glacier, had come to a shallow agreement: terms where once every month, he was allowed to come and visit the Kingdom of Ice, and stay to two nights precisely: and on those two days and nights he was allowed to sashay about with a temporarily first-rank, first circle standing and visit Lynx and Hailstorm.  
He had icy blue scales that glittered like overlapping chips of ice and frost, with cold and sharp piercing eyes the color of IceWing blood; basically an frigid shade of arctic blue. Large winged and averaged-sized for a five-year-old, he was the perfect example of dark, tall, and coolly, ridiculously handsome. 

Carved into the walls of white-blue ice were epic re-envisioned fights of the ages; which made sense, since he was in the chilling Hall of the Ages. Many of the images were circled around both petty and great fights and battles between the NightWings and the Ice Tribe; others were with the SeaWings, or a quite-old war against the RainWings, when they were more fierce and formidable. Others, Winter noticed as he went farther down the endless Hall, were more recent: Glacier dying from the ague, the tribe suffering the Wrath of Darkstalker, and the last one: the Ice/Night Fight, which happened at Jade Mountain Academy less than two months ago. All the painstakingly chiseled drawings had impeccable detail, and were slathered with finely-mixed colors of black-blue-green-red-yellow, and seemed almost lifelike. 

Spreading his wings and sharply turning at a right corner, he entered the majestic throne room to talk to the rather annoying Queen Snowfall. The room was clean and daily piled up with snow; sapphires were inlaid in the wall. Blown-up frozen snowflakes had been delicately pasted in an orderly fashion in an beautiful pattern with the jewels, and frost glittered when the sun hit it as it streamed through the large windows that adorned the corners of the room. The ceiling was arched and swooping and vaulted, all made of see-through glass to see the sky, as the throne room was in the highest peak if the palace. The main attraction was the large, ornate crystal-carved throne was positioned in the center of the room. Swirls were carved into the gem-throne, and armrests were covered with gold plates. A path of blocks of ice wound up to the majestic seat. Behind the throne, two double doors were flanked by heavily-weaponized, burly guards, as was the same to the entrance, which mirrored the back doors. A scribe sat scribbling in the snow on a stone tablet as the queen blabbered on. Blue-velvet seats on the right were lined up neatly in a row of three, two of which were occupied by recipients the IceWing queen was talking to about suggestions for the kingdom's needs. Winter walked down the path of ice, sharp claws clicking and tail spikes clattering.

Queen Snowfall had become slightly more mature with her duties as queen, but she still had preserved a small flame of ignorance just for Winter, yours truly. 

Oh, how _lucky _was he?__

Queen Snowfall was a beautiful dragon, in a burly, fierce kind of way. A crown of amethysts was lopsided atop her head spikes, and a locket containing her mother's cremated ashes hung around her long neck and rested gingerly on her rising and falling chest. She was huge, with a malevolent expression and a newly-placed wedding ring on her left talon, fourth claw. Her mate was High-ranking General Commander Icebitten, age seven. She herself was age six-and-a-half.

__"Hello, you're majesty," Winter said with low bow, front forelegs bent._ _

__"Welcome, Winterm: Snowfall called out, lifting her head with a waned smile. With a quick dismissal to the other dragons in the room accompanied by a wave of her ringed-talon, she flicked her tail over the armrest and draped herself tauntingly across the lavish throne. "What do you need, cousin dear? Dies your snout require a talking-to again?"_ _

__"WELL--" Just as he was about to retort something not-so-flattering, three short raps echoed from the floor-to-ceiling ice doors that served as the entry-way. The guards dramatically--too dramatically, Winter thought with a haughty sniff--flew open the doors with a flourish and in marched Icebitten._ _

__Icebitten was a IceWing who the description of a perfect general. Ice-white scales paired with a over-laying pattern of an cooler-toned violet, he had a handsome face set in a determined expression and a gigantic frame. Large wings folded importantly, his thick tail swept some snow across the snow-minted floor. Narrowed eyes the color of sunset blue lit up when he saw his beloved, then quickly faded back to a glittering mask as everyone looked at him. "Greetings, Snowfall," he briskly stated. The IceWing lifted his chin._ _

__"Yes?" Snowfall queried, and furtively twisted the wedding ring around in a sharp movement. Winter knew that meant she was thinking of him, but, being queen and having a discipline to set, kept her feelings at bay and put orders first._ _

__"My Queen, apologies, but the message is not for you," the general stated. He then turned to Winter, who raised an eye ridge questionably._ _

__"What is it?"_ _

__Icebitten made a strange face, like he had, been, well, bitten._ _

__"Er"--he awkwardly paused, clearly debating whether to call him Prince or not. Finally he settled for:--"Royalty Winter, some, um, SandWing is waving a weird earring outside the Kingdom's gates and, uh, yelling his head off. It's something about. . . Sand-snorter lizard-sucking ignorant, non-writing foolery. . .?"_ _

__All eyes then swiveled on Winter._ _

__He only knew one SandWing who used that kind of language so openly. . . _Qibli.__ _

____For some reason, he stomach than ran away, shouting, _"Good luck! IMMA OFF TO THE MOONS!"__ _ _ _

______Which, all in all, wasn't so strange._ _ _ _ _ _

______After all, it had been happening every time he thought about Qibli since they met. . ._ _ _ _ _ _

______Also, luckily no one else seemed to notice his food-digest-er scampering away._ _ _ _ _ _

______That sneaky intestine._ _ _ _ _ _

______Snowfall had a sly expression on her face as she studied her cousin. Unfortunately, ever since she'd read his journal yesterday by snatching it from him (even as he was in the supposed safety of his room. She had been spying on him, jumped out of a closet after he had locked the door, settled on his rock-slab bed, and took the notebook out of its secret niche in the wall, yelling, "Ha HA!" and grabbing it out of his claws) she'd knew ALL his current secrets, emotions, and events. . . Including his newly-discovered feelings for Qibli that he finally had wrote out on paper after his mind and ink had begged him to. Winter had been trying to ignore the emotions for awhile, but eventually he had to tune into his hormones: especially after being rejected by both Moon AND Lynx. . . Well, maybe those relationships wouldn't have worked out anyway. Because, of course, the attraction to Qibli would had gotten in the way eventually._ _ _ _ _ _

______Feeling his face slowly start to freeze up with blue, he looked back at Snowfall, eyes, for the first time ever, pleading. Snowfall scoffed quietly and gave him a curt nod. "Go." She waggled her claws at him. "We'll discuss later about _this _later," Snowfall smirked. "That's an order." With a look at the scribe to document it, which he did, she then dismissed him to be led off with Icebitten.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Heart pounding, all faces turned to him as he hurried away, out through the doors the clanged shut behind him and cack through the winding Gall of the Ages, rather relieved Snowfall hadn’t made a big deal out of it, his face flushed the more he thought about finally talking to Qibli again, after avoiding it out of embarrassment for so long. Now he was finally having to face it. He hadn't meant to fall for the attractively aggravating SandWing. . . But, several Pyrrhian-world-saving antics, months of dorming with him at Jade Mountain, and unexpected flirting later it had happened. And he had kept it a secret. Moon, though, after rejecting his love for her and then becoming a close friend, eventually had also been consulted. He could trust her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kinkajou? No way. She would sparkle-eye it all the way through._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And everyone else, even his closest friends, might accidentally blab. So, it had been kept a secret, and he had steered clear of Qibli, working and living at Sanctuary after giving up his place at Jade Mountain after the Night/Ice Fight. But he couldn't avoid it now. Heart doing cartwheels he navigated with his cousin-in-law the twisting route of the Ice Palace, nearing the Kingdom Gates, he could only think of one word and a beautifully handsome sandy-colored snout: _Qibli.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Qibli

Qibli was _freezing_.

He had been waiting outside the Gates that guarded the Kingdom of Ice for _two hours_.

Finally, many arguments later with several guards and officers, twelve blankets, and a plate of tooth-chipping-freezing dates later, he finally had been able to convince the last person he’d hollered at--some important dragon named Icebitten, blah blah blah--that he was an annoying friend of Ex-Prince Winter, the important IceWing had flown off in a huff and was now flying towards him, Winter flanking him.

The guards guarding the gates kept on giving him strange looks; but who cared. Finally, he could nag the handsome IceWing to death! Yay! Icebitten eyed Qibli as he dropped off Winter, then turned around and flew back inside the Kingdom. “Er. . .” Winter’s cheeks were flushed, Qibli noticed, but that was probably from a brisk fly to come here. So, totally normal.

 _“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!”_ Qibli decided that was an appropriate opening sentence.

Qibli was a tall, wiry-framed SandWing with large-ish wings, hooked claws, glittering black eyes, and a smattering of brown freckles on his chiseled snout. A small zig-zagged scar ran under one nostril. In one earring a golden hoop earring glinted with a golden amber teardrop dripping from it, almost like it was frozen in time. Wrapped around him were several blankets the color of raspberries; a Jade Mountain library card black velvet pouch containing his library card and other personal belongings he could lug about hung tight against his neck, tied in a knot.

Winter seemed to gain his composure. Typical.

“Well,” the IceWing said with a haughty sniff, “If you must know, I have been, um, doing, er, stuff.”

 _“Stuff?”_ Qibli waved his arms dramatically and his earring wobbled. “FOR TWO LIZARD-SQUELCHING MONTHS YOU HAVEN'T WROTE ONE LETTER OR SAID ONE WORD TO ME! AND YOU'RE EXCUSE IS SUN-SNUFFING ‘ _STUFF_ ’?!”

 

Winter had the nerve to coolly smile. Wait, he looked rather nervous. . . . was he blushing?

Incredulous, Qibli squinted.

Yep, blushing.

Hmmm. . .

His stomach seized itself for some weird reason. Anyhoo. Sure is cold.

Qibli wrapped the blankets tighter around himself.

“Can we go? GREAT! Let’s go to Jade Mountain!”

He seized the IceWing prince’s arm and yanked him into flight, and forced him to go Southeast with Qibli.

*   *   *

 

Two hours later, Winter was still pouting.

Two hours later, they landed at Jade Mountain, wings swooshing and talons thumping.

Winter, of course, was being adorably grouchy. Wings flared and forearms crossed, he seemed to be brooding. Again. It was rather cute.

_Er, not that I’m in love with him. . ._

_Anyway. . ._

Jade Mountain had the sun shining at its highest point down onto its dragon-fang peaks. Made of white marble and cream-white-rose-streaked quarry stone, it was a breathtaking work of nature. Grassy clearings and trees full of fruits adorned the land surrounding it. Off to the left, a large lake sparkled. Muddy spots were here and there. Behind the mountain was a rocky forest, with rivers and creeks and lakes. Roses and torches sprung up merrily through the ground, and a large entrance that was domed even bigger than Darkstalker, both in height and triple in width, had a cheerful but tattered banner swaying on the top, from the first day of school.

Qibli winked at Winter. “Shall we go, dearest?” he said playfully.

Winter stonily glared at him in response.

“Fine, be a sand-snorter.” Qibli yanked Winter closer and then dragged him into the school. Posters, notifications, and more decorated the walls. Scroll racks stuffed maps and scrolls neatly were flanking the many tunnels and corridors that stemmed off from the Main Hall/Entrance. Dragons from all the tribes were milling around.

Winter considerably perked up and lashed his tail.

“Is Moon here or any of our friends?” he asked, and scanned the bustling Hall.

Qibli winced. “Nope. They all left to go visit Moon’s mother.”

Winter arched an eye ridge. “What about _Peril?_ ”

Qibli had a mischievous, shifty expression on his face. “Peril and Clay are getting married,” he explained.

**_“WHAT.”_ **

“Clay proposed at a Jade Mountain Full Moon Festival this month,” Qibli said gleefully. “Now they’re off exploring Phyrria for a great place for the wedding.”

**_“WHAT.”_ **

“Also,” he added thoughtfully, “The ironic thing is that Clay, Riptide, and Deathbringer all conspired together to propose at the same time to Tsunami, Peril, and Glory. . . Now they’re having a triple wedding. But Tsunami is busy at the Kingdom of Sea because of it, and Glory’s still at the rainforest.”

 ** _“WHAT.”_ ** Winter seemed to be choking.

“ANYWAY!”Qibli yanked Winter into a hug then started off down a winding tunnel on the right. He was rather excited about this: “Now we get to room again while you visit!”

Winter ducked his head as a smile tugged the corner of his mouth.

After navigating through the twisting tunnels and classrooms they arrived to the room where they once had shared. Qibli plopped down on a pile of sand he had brought back from the desert to serve as a new bed. Ever since Winter left, he hadn’t gotten a new clawmate. But, Qibli was making the most of it. His corner of the room was neat and tidy: a few drawings of Moon and Winter and his friends pinned up there; a few plans, maps, battle positions, and lists tacked onto the stone wall here. His sand-bed was spilling over some grains on the sides, and a woven-safari grass bag containing his personal belongings was plopped down beside it. Otherwise for that, it was empty.

Oh, except for the twisted hunk of metal that had been cast aside from Winter’s old Scavenger cage and been stored in the corner. Winter gazed at the place. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” he said quietly. Why was he being so weird? This was not the haughty IceWing prince Qibli knew.

“Winter?” he asked carefully. “Are you okay? You’re acting really strange.”

Winter sharply jerked his head up and met his gaze. His tail flicked with a clatter of spikes. There were no windows in the cave; only dragon-fire lit glass globs that cast scattered lights of the rainbow around the room. Scroll racks were positioned by the entrance, and made of shiny brass. But they were out-shined by Winter. With scales like icy fire, and a gaze that pinned you down in an instant--sure, Qibli knew it was a common fact that the IceWing prince was handsome; but. . . His heart sped up. The air hummed with electricity.

Something was happening.

Why did Winter look more. . . Alluring? More. . . Beautiful? Attractive? Like. . .someone he would call “his type”? Was it a trick of the light?

_Oh. . . Oh, NO._

Qibli’s stomach felt light; no, heavy. Like it was full of butterflies. . . Qibli had only felt this way once before in his whole life: and that was when he had fallen in love with Moonwatcher, a small but beautiful NightWing who he was dating up until three weeks ago (before The Breakup).

So. . . Why was he feeling that strange sensation now, of all times, while looking into those eyes of arctic blue? Those beautiful, beautiful eyes. . . Something clicked in his mind. A answer to what he was seeking, the question he had been asking himself ever since he began to talk to the grouchy IceWing: _Why do I act and feel the way I do whenever I think or talk or am around him. . . ?_

The answer hovered in front of his vision, determined to be heard and discovered.

_I’m--somehow. . ._

_I think I’ve fallen in love with Winter._


	3. Winter

****

Winter felt fuzzy. 

And  _ weird. _

He gingerly registered Qibli askin, “Winter? Are you okay? You’re acting strange.”

But his mouth, um, seemed broken.

No, don’t laugh! He was serious! 

He tried to respond, but his mind seemed incomprehensible to gather up information and, more importantly,  _ words. _

His tongue was numb. Winter tried to choke out something, but, he couldn’t.

Because he was staring into those glittering eyes of obsidian. He traced Qibli’s face with his eyes, every “flaw”, even if he thought they were perfect, every scar, every freckle.

Qibli was unnervingly hilarious and warmly-good-looking. Heat radiated from him like the sun. 

Whereas Winter was as cold as a snowstorm; scales like frostbite and frostbreath combined.

Yet Qibli made him snort on the outside and laugh on the inside. He had flirted back when Qibli had done so. And Winter had developed a snappy, even more icy side to him just for the radiating SandWing.

He couldn’t help it! It was instinctive. Winter had wanted to not seem weak, and besides, it was hilarious seeing Qibli’s antics.

Sure, he had fought Qibli for Moon’s love. His heart had been broken soon after, after Moon had chosen Qibli over him. And his heart had been broken for the second time when Lynx had rejected him.

But. . . He was willing to try love again.

Especially if it was involving spending more time with Qibli. 

Finally, the handsome IceWing tore his gaze away, cheeks stained IceWing-blood-blue.

He finally managed to mumble, “I’m fine,” and turn away sharply.

Winter took a sharp intake of breath.

They had had a moment.

A moment Winter could  _ feel. _

And, somehow he knew Qibli had acknowledged too.

Busying himself by sweeping his gaze across the perimeter of the room, he skeptically muttered, “Did you have a hurricane blow through here and  _ destroy  _ the peace and order that was here when  _ I  _ lived with you?”

Qibli didn’t have a retort to come back at him, for once. Winter paused as his eyes darted back and latched onto the SandWing he inexplicably had fallen for.  _ How I did. . . It must have been a love-at-first-sight thing. . . But I  _ also  _ fell for Moon at the beginning of the first term at Jade Mountain Academy. . . But I chose to ignore the feelings. But now I’ve embraced them, the mushy-feelings are stronger than ever. _

_ Greeeeat. _

Winter tilted his head slightly. As he inspected Qibli, expecting a returning jab, but got none.

_ Weird. _

In fact, Qibli looked rather rattled.

_ Ice-sniffing weird. _

Qibli didn’t say anything,  _ at all,  _ actually.

“Fine,” Winter huffed. “Be that way.”

In fact, right now he was annoyed with the redecorator of the room.  _ Because _ . . .

They had removed the ice-slab bed that had resided here when Winter lived at Jade Mountain. Now, a mass of gooey mud occupied the space where it used to be; the other bed was a large mass of moss, rainforest leaves, vines, and other articles of merchandise from the Kingdom of Rain that had been _clearly_ put there in mind for a RainWing clawmate.

_ No way I’m sleeping in mud. _

_ However discombobulated I may be with my emotions and inner self right now,  _ I’m not  _ losing whatever self-respect I have left by getting all sticky with mud. _

_ And moss is too soft for me to sleep on comfortably. _

_ So. . . The only option to  _ sleep in  _ as a  _ bed  _ is. . . _

Winter plopped down on the gigantic pile of grainy sand with about as much grace as he could muster. A cloud of grains’ poofed up as his body hit the dust.

Winter coughed, then waved a talon in the air. “ _ Ahem,”  _ he announced, clearing his throat to try to mask the awkwardness in the air. “Well, since there are no better sleeping options, you and I will share this pile of dirt.”

Qibli choked on the breath of air he was taking. His face was bright red. “W-what?”

Winter flushed. This hadn’t gone as expected. “You heard me.”

Qibli took a rattly breath and pointed out, “It’s not even nightfall yet. Why are you going to bed?”

“I’m  _ not.”  _ Winter flounced up. “I was just testing this dirt to make sure it’s acceptable.”

Qibli managed a small smile. “That’s not dirt.” The sand dragon flicked his tail at the goopy mud. “ _ This is  _ dirt.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway,” Qibli went on, in that endearing, adorable way, “Jade Mountain is having a party, a festival, tonight, if you want to go.”

The dragon of ice considered. Might as well. “Why not?” He shook himself. Grains of sand were stuck in between his scales, and it was rather annoying. He preferred to have ice dripping off him instead. 

Stalking to the jagged entrance of the cave, he twisted his neck around and beckoned to Qibli. “Come on.”

Qibli followed him abd ducked out of the cave, right behind Winter, who was now leading the way. “Uh, where?”

“Why,” Winter said with a crafty smile, “to go play truth or dare with everyone before it's banned!”

_ After class, of course. Apparently I am supposed to do  _ learning  _ while I’m here. According to the clock in the room, we’re about to be late for History.  _

And with that they went to the history class as the warning bell chimed:

**_ DING, DING, DING _ . **


	4. Qibli

Qibli was still in shock as he followed the glittering dragon.

**_He was in love with Winter._ **

It seemed so much  _ clearer  _ now. . .

But also still quite muddled.

_ How  _ could this have happened? 

All his life, he’d been into girls!

_ Well,  _ his mind reasoned,  _ Maybe you're into both genders. _

That conclusion was driving him  _ crazy,  _ though.

So, that couldn’t have been it. . .

Or could it?  

The two Phyrrian natives went through a rather wet, slimy tunnel that sloped upwards. It was dark.

Eventually they reached a hole which they clambered through, and entered a rather spacious cave cluttered with maps, scrollbooks, desks, a corner that was taken up by lamps and a secretary’s desk, and more.

The bumpy walls were covered with maps, lists, and historic dates, scrollracks and scrollshelves lined up neatly below all the paper.

Rocky benches on the stone floor were positioned next to smooth, tall hunks of rock that served as the student’s desk. Fire-lit globes were strung and hanging from the stactalites on the ceiling, casting everything in a faint glow.

The teacher’s workspace was the messiest of the entire room.

Papyrus spilled over the surface of the large wooden desk, along with pots of ink, books, scrolls, and more. A chair was rather awkwardly positioned behind the wooden structure, crammed and pressed into by the stone wall creeping up behind it. 

Overall, it was  _ quite  _ a disaterious-looking area, as Winter would say. 

_ Great, now Winter’s  _ affecting  _ me! _

Qibli sat at a bench, barbed tail dangerously coiling off the end. Winter plopped down next to him.

Other dragons had already arriving and kept on streaming up through the entrance hole.

_ Guess we’re partners cor today,  _ Qibli thought.

In response, his heart joyfully danced in his chest along with his stomach cheering: “YAY!”

Didn’t his stupid body parts  _ know  _ they shouldn’t be excited about this?

_ But, oh,  _ his mind offered up against his better judgment,  _ Dearest Qibli,  _ you’re  _ the one who loves him. _

Qibli side-eyed the handsome dragon that his heart pumped faster for every time he spoke.

_ Does he have an attraction for  _ you? His mind queried.

He waved that question away with a mental dismissive talon.

_ No,  _ that was  _ not true.  _ Winter wouldn't be interested in a guy like him. 

_ Maybe he  _ is-ss! his brain singsonged.

The final warning bell gonged.

Class was in session. The history teacher had arrived.

An hour later, Webs finished off with: “Your homework for tonight is to read about the Scorching.”

And the end-of-class bell rang.

As everyone filed into the cramped tunnel, Winter leaped onto his desk and yelled, “TRUTH OR DARE GATHERING, IN THE CLEARING OUTSIDE OF THE MAIN HALL! BE THERE! TIME: NOW!”

All heads snapped up and Qibli could hear clicking claws pause in the tunnel.

Then everyone either cheered or nodded and scurried away.

Webs was busy with his class notes abd didn’t do anything to stop it.

Qibli cocked his head at Winter. “That was unexpected of you.”

Winter scoffed. “Pleass, I could have been  _ much more  _ dramatic.”

They dropped down the hole and into the tunnel more or less gracefully. After hurrying down it and reaching the Main Hall, they exited and went to the clearing on the far right of Jade Mountain. Already a small group of dragons had arrived.

The sun was beginning to dip back in the west, lowering the glow of sunlight and making it slightly cooler.

Winter leaped onto the surface of a large boulder jutting out from the waving long grass.

“Okay,” Winter grinned. “Let’s get into groups and start playing.” Shadows half-covered his face, making him look rather dark and brooding.

Students grouped up.

Winter, Qibli, Mightyclaws, and another RainWing Qibli didn’t recongnize formed into a small group of four.

They tramped off to a rushing river off to the side, and sat in a small circle facing each other on the bank of the river.

“I’ll go first,” the RainWing offered up. She turned to Winter. “Truth of Dare?”

Winter lazily looked at his claws and smirked. “Dare,” he announced.

“I Triple Dog Dare you, no turning back, to go up to the dragon you like and kiss them full on the snout.

Mightyclaws and the RainWing snickered.

Winter’s gaze flicked quickly to Qibli and back to the RainWing. “And,” he said quietly, “What if it’s a guy I like?”

“Even better,” Mightyclaws sneered.

At the same time, the dragon of colors interjected, “Still have to.”

Winter’s gaze kept on flicking back to Qibli. That was making him nervous.

Did he--

No, he couldn’t--

But what if he did?

Winter took a deep breath.

But, before anything happened, Qibli couldn’t help but blurt. . .

“Winter! Do you. . . Have an attraction for me?”

Winter froze.

Everything seemed to freeze.

_ Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid.

How could he have asked that?

The question and nagging suspicion had just popped into his mind.

But, that was before Winter froze, his beautiful eyes of arctic locked on his.

Then. . .

But then. . .

Winter did an intake of rattly air.

And then, almost against his will, he seemed to force out, “Yes.”

And that’s when Qibli got his answer:

Yes, Winter liked him back.

. . .


	5. Winter

Winter was  _ seething. _

_ With. _

_ Anger. _

_ **Rargh!** _

That e _ vil RainWing  _ who dared him to kiss whoever he liked--aka Qibli--had been a  _ animus.  _ Seriously!

And when Qibli asked the time-stopping question, the  _ evil RainWing had cast a spell on him and made him answer! Secretly! _

He was  _ so angry.  _

If only that was why he answered. . .  But the RainWing didn't do anything;  _he did._ But, he might as well blame someone other than himself. . .

_ That evil, vile, hurricane excuse of a RainWing,  _ he grudgingly thought.

He risked a peek at the dragon he’d fallen for.

Qibli had frozen. But, his eyes glinted with shock. . .

And. . .

Was that. . .

_ Joy?! _

It couldn’t be.  

But. . .

Qibli  _ couldn’t love  _ Winter back. . . Could he?

No, it was impossible.

But. . . There was a possiblity. . . 

Mightyclaws and the  _ evil RainWing  _ were gaping at them.

Winter could almost tell what they were thinking:  _ DRAMA! YAY! _

EVIL THEM.

He felt another spell from the RainWing tugging at him, forcing him to obey. He  _ hated  _ that feeling.

The order was ask Qibli why he asked that question.

“Qibli,” he choked out, against his will, “why did you ask me that question? Do you. . .like me back too?”

Qibli had a strange expression on his face. The earring in his ear glinted, the amber teardrop catching the light.

Qibli then said in a weird tone, “I do.”

Winter held back a gasp.

He  _ what?! _

_ He  _ did!?

_ Whaaaaaat!? _

Winter stood up, lashed his tail, and muttered, “I need some time. I’m going back to my room.” 

Qibli jumped up too. “Winter, I’m coming too. We--we need to talk.”

“Fine.” Winter huffed, and stalked into the school, leaving behind the other Truth-or-Dare-ers’, Qibli beside him.

They finally reached their room. 

Winter, with a toss of his head, dramatically plopped down on the bed. 

He settled his head on his forearms and sighed, looking up at Qibli, who was still standing in at the cave’s doorway.

“Well?” Winter said irritably. “Come on in! We need to ‘talk’, don’t we?” 

Qibli edged in, then shrugged and laid down next to him. Dust poofed up from the impact.

“So. . .” Qibli cleared his throat. “Uh. . . You said you liked me. . . Is that true?”

_ “No _ ,” Winter replied sarcastically. “I’m not in like with you, I’m in love with you.”

Qibli’s expression was a perfect mix of priceless and incredulous. “You’re actually serious,” he muttered to himself. The light from the fire globs danced around. “You’re  _ literally  _ in love with me! Huh, I was right all this time.”

Winter flushed. “Do not!”

Qibli looked up and locked eyes with Winter, his body incenterating heat. “You do so. I can see it in your eyes.”

Winter slumped in defeat. “Dine,” he grumbled grouchily. “You’re right.”

“Winter,” Qibli said hesitantly, and tentatively put his talon on top of Winter’s. Winter stared down at it in disbelief. “Winter, I--”

_ What? _

“Well,” he stuttered, “I think I’ve fallen in, er, love with you as well. . . Somehow.” His cheeks blazed with heat, while Winter’s were freezing at a blood-curdling temperature. 

Winter must have looked as shocked as he felt, because Qibli chuckled nervously. “I feel ya,” he softly said.

And they sat in silence, leaning into each other, cold against heat. 


End file.
